


Midwinter Kisses

by kiminseong



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: M/M, it is only teen for cursing and some semi explicit mentions ya kno, its kinda sorta about christmas but not rlly, its not beta read bc im the worst plz just ignore the mistakes, its rlly not bad im sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-25 20:09:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17127950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiminseong/pseuds/kiminseong
Summary: How was Renjun supposed to know that the boy at the door was the host?





	Midwinter Kisses

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hoeunki](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hoeunki/gifts).



> To the lovely Erika~ I really love you so much, and I hope that you really enjoy this! Merry Christmas and happy holidays!! I am so happy that I could write for you!
> 
> P.S. I said it in the tags, but plz ignore any mistakes I will proofread when I have more time....

“It is a good opportunity, Injunnie!” Jaemin begged from the other desk of their small apartment. Renjun was busy with school work, little things that would prepare him for next semester. Despite seeing him work, Jaemin still frustrated him by insisting he attend a party that he was allowed to bring a ‘plus one’ to. “You are too focused on school all the time, hyung. You really should let yourself get out the house sometime!” he continued.

Renjun shook his head in response, his pen still moving, but he wasn’t writing anything. He couldn’t focus with Jaemin at his heels like he was, “Please, hyung. It is Christmas! Break is—” 

“—FINE!” Renjun slammed his book closed, his pen inside, still uncapped. He was going to regret that, but he wasn’t going to check anytime soon in order to regret that. “When is the stupid party?” he gave in. 

“Right now,” Jaemin smiled smugly, pleased with Renjun’s response.

Renjun stood dramatically, letting his chair fall behind him. He flinched upon hearing the crash, but continued as if nothing had happened. “You...don’t have to go, hyung,” Jaemin said meekly due to Renjun’s reaction. He began picking up the chair for Renjun, and Renjun felt somewhat bad for not doing it himself.  He didn’t mean to overreact, but he hated parties; they never worked out for him. There were always too many people, sights, and sounds. Crowds were his worst nightmare. 

Renjun shook his head again, “No, Jaem, I want to go,” he smiled, lying through his teeth. He truly hated everything about parties. He had only been to a few, but the few he had been to were absolutely terrible. Everything he expected to see at a college party he saw, and he regretted. He wasn’t ready to feel that same sense of regret, but he knew it was inevitable. 

“Good!” Jaemin cheered, walking over to his closet, “Now the theme is Christmas, so you gotta  _ be and look _ cheery,” he said as if that didn’t task Renjun. He was already having second thoughts about his decision, but he knew he needed a break from studying. For once, Jaemin was right. He just didn’t know if a party was the right solution. 

 

🎁

 

The location of the party wasn’t far from their house, luckily. If Renjun had to suffer Jaemin’s driving any longer, he might lose it. The house Jaemin led them to was by no means bustling with people, at least not from the outside. There were many cars, but the party itself seemed to be contained indoors, which was a good sign to Renjun. Finding parking was easy enough, since the lawn seemed to be an option, but Renjun was tentative to let Jaemin drive over the curb. Once he parked the car, Jaemin was out quickly, calling for Renjun behind him, “Come on, hyung!” 

“What are you in such a hurry for?” Renjun smiled, laughing. “Is Jeno-ya here?” he teased. He didn’t get a response, as Jaemin was already high-fiving someone from the entrance and had made his way in. Renjun walked slowly, paying attention to the many things that seemed to be happening through the window. People were drinking from plastic cups, putting god knows what into their bodies. He couldn’t make assumption yet, having not been inside. 

Renjun smiled at the boy standing by the door welcoming people. He’d never seen the boy before, but he looked older, maybe a senior. Renjun assumed this was the person that Jaemin high fived, which is why he was so confused about having never seen him before. 

Once inside the living room, the party was relatively nice, really. There were gifts under a tree, and Renjun worried that he had to bring one, but there was really nothing he could do about that now, and he felt as if Jaemin would have told him something like that. People stood around in various groups, especially in kitchen where drinks and food were. He couldn’t see Jaemin amongst those people. 

The couch was crowded, and people were crowding the staircase that led most likely to bedrooms, Renjun guessed, so he didn’t understand why people would be up there. The party looked too tame for explicit things to be occurring, but he didn’t bother looking or asking anyone. Maybe there were bathrooms up there.

Renjun settled on standing against the side of the staircase where no one else was. A table holding a few drinks were here, and he couldn’t believe anyone was stupid enough to set down a cup at a party at all, but he couldn’t be surprised about anything after his most recent party. He had never seen so many people doing so many illegal things in one room, and he never thought he would be able to hear people doing  _ things  _ in rooms above him, but he had, and he wished he could erase it from his memory. 

He could watch people walk in and out of a bathroom from where he stood. There was another door that he was within sight of, but no one touched it. He was curious where it led to, but not curious enough to check it out. If no one was going, it was probably off limits. 

“Injun, hyung, you made it!” a familiar voice sang after walking out from the bathroom. Jeno stood in front of him, looking just as nice as Renjun remembered. He smiled upon seeing a familiar face. He had to admit, maybe he hated parties so much because he didn’t let himself like them. If he opened up and talked to people, maybe he wouldn’t mind them as much as he did. “Does that mean Jaemin is here?” Jeno asked once he was close enough for them to talk casually. 

Renjun nodded, “Yeah. He came in before me, so I don’t where he is,” he tried answering any incoming questions with one sentence. That habit probably didn’t help with his problem of making friends. 

“Ah… How have you been?” Jeno asked, scratching his head. Renjun could tell he just wanted to go find Jaemin, and he didn’t blame him. The two have been walking around dating for a year now, and that isn’t even how long the two have known each other. 

Renjun swallowed on nothing, feeling the dry lump in his throat. He needed to find a water that didn’t come from the sink and wasn’t already opened before his throat burned a hole through itself. “Fine,” he coughed out, “You?” 

“I am glad to hear you are good! I have been fine…” he trailed off, his eyes looking up the staircase behind Renjun, “Jaemin said you and him might not be coming…” 

“I decided that he didn’t get out enough,” Renjun joked. Jeno laughed, and Renjun was thankful that things weren’t completely awkward between them. Granted they were close friends even before Jeno and Jaemin decided they liked each other, they seemed to grow less focused on each other while they were hanging out. Recently, Renjun had been trying to patch that, though. He felt as if it is somewhat his fault for the whole thing. “Well,” Renjun shoved his shoulder lightly, “You can go find Jaemin, you love bird.” 

Jeno narrowed his eyes and was off with a sarcastic, “Thanks.” 

Time seems to drag when you were alone, especially when you are alone with dozens of people surrounding you. Renjun didn’t understand what was stopping him from just  _ approaching  _ someone, but he wasn’t content with just doing that. He didn’t feel nervous or anxious, really, just uncomfortable. This definitely didn’t beat studying, as both felt like somewhat of a chore, although one was benefiting him. Being here just made him want to go home. 

“You alright?” a deep voice asked from next to him. He had been so focused on that other door that he hadn’t been paying much attention to the people around him. 

Renjun  turned his head only to realize he needed to look  _ up  _ to see the stranger. His skin was dark and his 

smile wide. His face flushed a light pink, and he couldn’t help but cough when he tried to speak. His throat was incredibly dry, and he felt borderline miserable. A sore throat was going to result if he didn’t drink  _ something  _ soon. “Um… fine,” he managed between coughs. “Do I know you?” when he asked this, he realized he was talking to the same person who was greeting everyone at the door. 

The boy laughed aloud. It was hearty and true, and Renjun didn’t understand why, since he hadn’t made a joke. “You can call me Lucas,” he beamed. 

“Lucas?” Renjun repeated, confusion clouding his face. “Are you American?” 

He laughed again, that same confusing laugh, “Nope! I’m Chinese.” 

Renjun felt flustered for a split second, then realized how rude he may have come off when asking that, “Sorry,” he apologized suddenly, “I didn’t mean to sound like jerk,” he said slightly under his breath. He felt himself take a step back, slightly intimidated by the taller boy standing in front of him. 

“It’s alright,” Lucas assured, “I just wanted to make sure you were alright.” 

Renjun nodded, “I am… I’d be better if my friend hadn’t dragged me to some dumbass party, though,” he let his emotions get the better of him. He didn’t mean to rant, even if only for a second. “Sorry,” he said again, much quieter this time. 

Lucas raised his eyebrows in surprise for a second, but shook his head, “Don’t worry about it. I understand, parties aren’t everybody’s thing,” he returned to smiling. Renjun didn’t quite understand what about his smile that it was, but he was entirely too endearing, and it felt ironic to say something like that about someone so much...larger than Renjun. 

Renjun bit his lip. He didn’t know if the boy was going to leave soon, or if maybe he didn’t have anyone to talk to, either. “I am Injun, by the way. So you go to school here?” Renjun did his best to strike up conversation. He had to admit, there was comfort in talking to anyone, even if he was an absolute stranger. 

“Nice to meet you, and yeah, you too?” 

Renjun nodded silently. “What year?” Renjun asked, forcing his teeth let go of his lip. He didn’t want to seem like he was trying to seduce the older boy since he was still oblivious to what people might be doing upstairs. Besides, his habitual lip biting was just that: a habit. 

“Third,” he started looking around. Renjun always took that as a sign that they wanted to leave him again. When he spoke up, Renjun expected him to make some excuse about how he needed to leave, but he did the exact opposite; he continued to speak to Renjun. “What about you?”

“Ah,” Renjun blushed, “Second,” he couldn’t hold back another cough. 

“Do you need a drink?” Lucas looked actually worried, and Renjun didn’t understand that at all. What business did he have worrying about a stranger, but Renjun supposed that not everyone was as gated as him. 

He nodded politely, “Do you know if they have any bottled water?” 

Lucas laughed out loud again, still confusing Renjun. “I can check,” and before Renjun could stop him, tell him that it was okay and didn’t have to go, he was off. Renjun hated being alone. Really, truly hated it. 

“Injunnie!” Jaemin’s voice rang from somewhere behind him. He turned around, smacking his nose against the base of the staircase. “Woah, are you okay?” Jaemin reached him quickly, and it was then that he realized Jeno was trailing behind him.  _ Two people  _ had to watch him smack his face off of the stairs. How much better could his night get?

“I’m fine,” Renjun brought his hand to his nose, making sure it wasn’t hurt. He felt pain, yes, but it wasn’t bad enough to bleed or break. A slight throbbing pain pulsed in his nose, but he tried his best to focus on the other things occurring around him. By now, Lucas had showed back up, a bottle of water in his hand. 

Renjun noticed Jaemin trying to stifle a laugh, and he couldn’t help but laugh himself seeing him do so. “Here is your drink,” Lucas interrupted his laughter once he finally reached the three boys. 

“Lucas!” Jaemin suddenly shouted, taking even Jeno aback for a moment. “This party is amazing, dude!” he said, exchanging a high five yet again, “Thanks for inviting me.” Renjun is sure that the two said more, but after he accepted the water bottle, he didn’t really hear more of the conversation, as realization hit him. Lucas was the host of the party, and he was standing in the corner with him, insulting it. His night  _ could  _ get worse. 

“I am sorry,” Renjun interrupted the other three, “I didn’t know this was your party, Lucas.” Renjun was frowning now, upset at himself. “I didn’t mean to seem ungrateful or anything, I am happy I am here, really,” he tried explaining to him. Lucas looked at him, puzzled, for a moment, but it clicked after the third apology. 

“You are fine, Injun,” Lucas assured, but he was interrupted by Renjun’s continuous apologies. 

“Injunnie… Jeno and I are gonna head upstairs again, okay?” Jaemin seemed to make up on the spot. 

Renjun glared over at him, but then realized he had an opportunity, “What are you guys going to do upstairs?” he asked quizzically.

Jeno and Jaemin shared a glance before Jeno answered, “There’s a deck upstairs that Lucas decorated, hyung,” he smiled kindly. 

Renjun’s face flushed once more, “Ah,” he let out. 

“We are gonna...go…” Jaemin said awkwardly before taking his not-boyfriend by the hand and dragging him upstairs with him. Now it was just Lucas and Renjun, standing awkwardly, a silence growing between despite the cacophony surrounding them. 

Lucas looked behind him, just over the staircase where one could see down the hall to the front door. “Do you want to…take a walk?” 

Renjun nodded without thinking. He wanted to get out so badly. There was a pressure building up both in his chest and throat. He needed some sort of escape, some way to release that pressure. He needed to drink, and he wanted to stop the sensation of crying that welled inside of him. What he said to Lucas wasn’t  _ that bad,  _ so he didn’t know why he was reacting so strongly. 

“Alright,” Lucas smiles, “Let’s get going.” 

 

🎁

 

The night air was cold and bitter against Renjun’s skin. He didn’t bring gloves or a scarf or anything of the sort because he was only in Jaemin’s car, and he didn’t expect to be outside while at the party. The stars were visible, surprisingly. Living in a city had many perks, but the days that Renjun couldn’t see the stars outside made him sad. Nature was so naturally beautiful that he didn’t want to give it up, even to live somewhere nice and get an amazing education, but he was a hypocrite for doing just that. 

The wind bit at Renjun’s already chapped lips, but he opted for taking sips of water to counter that because, of all the things he could ask the host to supply, chapstick likely wasn’t one of them. He shivered in the cold, walking towards what he thought was a park, but he couldn’t tell clearly from the distance. This was also a neighborhood in Seoul that he had never been in. 

“What brought you to Seoul if you’re from China?” Renjun asked before taking another drink of his water. 

Lucas’ heavy breaths formed puffs of visible air because of the cold. Renjun’s did the same, but his were more shallow. He was trying his best to breath through his nose to avoid coughing, but it was hard to keep breathing through one’s nose while walking. “I got scouted...for a modeling gig,” he said shyly, “I guess that is what brought me here…” 

Renjun could easily see him being scouted for his looks. He was undeniably handsome, but if he had it so well in terms of work, what was he studying for? “But you still attend school?” 

Lucas laughed, “Yeah. I have to study my Korean, plus I dance,” he told Renjun proudly. 

“I study Korean here, too… It can be tough, being a foreigner,” Renjun thought aloud, “I dance, too, but not anything cool...and I’m not very good…” he trailed off. 

“You aren’t from here?” Lucas sounded confused. 

“No,” Renjun shook his head, “I’m from Jilin, China.” 

Lucas nodded slowly, looking down at him. The two had been conversing by looking forward for the most part, but they stole the occasional glance at each other. Renjun didn’t like looking up everytime he needed to talk to him, but he could get used to it. He was surprised by how easy it was for him to talk to Lucas, but there was something about Lucas that made him comfortable. “What do you mean you don’t know how to dance anything cool?” Lucas inquired suddenly. At first, Renjun didn’t know what he was talking about, but he realized upon second thought. He assumed that Lucas knew styles of dance that were cool, sharp, and much more modern, but Renjun only knew ballet and contemporary, plus he didn’t really think he was too good at dancing anyway. 

“Oh!” Renjun smiled shyly, shivering once his teeth felt the cold again, “I...um...I do ballet and, um, a little bit of contemporary,” his face was heating quickly, and even though he’d be able to blame the cold for the color, he couldn’t blame the cold for the heat coming from his cheeks.

Lucas smiled, “That is amazing! It takes hard work to do ballet, I’ve heard…” he stopped suddenly, looking at Renjun. “Here,” he smiled, unwrapping his scarf from around him, then wrapping Renjun with it. It had a distinct scent, one that Renjun could only relate to the short amount of time he has been with Lucas. He was suddenly so much warmer that he didn’t want to move again, but he had to. “...and I’ve heard that it can be really hard on your body,” he finished. 

“It, uh,” Renjun was stuttering now because of what he had done, “You didn’t have to..”

“No, I did. You are freezing Injun,” he stopped again, coughing. 

“Are you sick?” 

“No, just thirsty,” he smiled weakly. Renjun  _ hated  _ sharing drinks and food with people. He couldn’t stand it, actually. It was gross and there were so many risks with it. He didn’t even let Jaemin drink after him. 

“Here,” he shoved his water bottle toward the taller, forcing him to take it. 

Lucas gave a slight smile, “Thank you.” He drank sparingly, but he touched his lips to the bottle for sure. Renjun could die out here in the cold, and he didn’t know how willing he’d to be to drink any more of that water. Lucas handed it back to him, though, and he kept a hold of it, pretending he was going to drink it sometime. 

“Ballet can be pretty rough on your body...especially when you think about the diet they want you to maintain,” Renjun frowned, thinking about how much he avoided eating just so he could keep up with ballet and obey the instructors. It was terrible, the courses the dance put your body through, but those learning have so little in their system to help with damage. His bones and skin were more fragile than somewhat who ate plenty, but he tried to get all the necessary nutrients. 

Lucas nodded. He seemed to know a decent amount about the subject, more than Renjun expected him too, but ballet was a more popular form of dance in terms of media. At least if you disregard pop music and choreographies. “You should be careful,” he wished gently. Renjun didn’t know why he was being so nice to him. If it were up to him, he would be walking home now, but instead they were taking a turn to go back to Lucas’ house. 

Renjun tried holding back another terrible cough, and, to do so, he brought the water bottle back to his mouth without thinking, “Shit,” he muttered after drinking. 

“What’s wrong?” 

“Nothing…” he rolled his eyes. He didn’t feel like sounding like a bigger jerk than he was probably being. 

“Are you sure?” Lucas insisted on making sure he was okay. 

Renjun turned to face him, face puzzled, “Why do you care so much?” Apparently he  _ did  _ want to sound like a big jerk. 

Lucas looked stunned for a moment, and Renjun felt exactly as Lucas’ face depicted. “I’m sorry?” he was confused, and Renjun was confused why he said it, too. 

“Why...do you keep acting like you care about me… We just met…” Renjun trailed off, turning away now. He tried to keep walking, but he was slower than before. His face was burning now, and he felt tears bubble at his eyes. He hated being quick to cry. He felt like a big baby every time he started crying. 

Lucas caught up with him after a second. “You want me to be honest?” he stood in front of him, stopping the both of them. 

Renjun nodded silently. 

“I think you are super interesting and absolutely stunning. I just want to get to know you, honestly,” his usual smile was replaced by a completely serious look. If Renjun had never spoken to him before he had said this, he would be able to tell that he meant what he was saying. 

Renjun didn’t waste a second before he closed the small space between them. His heels came off the ground and he stood only on his toes, the perfect height to reach Lucas’ face comfortably. He kissed him like he had just met him, yes, but like there was no one else in the world. Lucas kissed back, though more tentatively than Renjun kissed him. Their lips moved together for a short amount of seconds before Renjun pulled away, satisfied. “You are single, right?” he asked to be safe. 

Lucas nodded. 

“Good.”

 

🎁

 

“Where have you two been?” Jaemin greeted them at the door. The party had actually died down since the two left, some cars missing from the lawn. Jaemin looked a little tired, and Renjun had to admit that he had definitely lost track of time while he was out with Lucas. 

“We went on a walk,” Lucas replied coolly. No one would suspect a thing as long as he felt talking, but Renjun did notice a goofy smile he was wearing. He didn’t understand why he was doing that, but he hoped it was at least half-natural for him. 

Jaemin raised his eyebrows, “For that long?” 

“What else would we have done?” Renjun smacked his arm a little roughly. “Where is Jeno, by the way,” he tried misdirecting the conversation. 

“Kitchen. I had to move my car for someone,” he explained half-heartedly, “Why did you ignore my question, Injunnie. You never do that!” He was cornered now. Renjun wasn’t embarrassed to have kissed Lucas, but it was sudden and really unlike him. 

“Um…” Renjun faltered. “We…” he trailed off, trying to come up with something. 

Lucas interrupted, though, thankfully, “Renjun doesn’t like parties, so I invited him out. I am glad I did,” he smiled down at Renjun while he spoke, “He is pretty cute.” 

A wide smile broke across Jaemin’s face while Renjun blushed, looking down at the floor. “No way!” he shouted. “Jeno! Get a load of this!” he ran into the kitchen to retrieve Jeno. Renjun shook his head. Lucas placed a gentle kiss on the top of it. 

“Sorry about tonight,” he half smiled. 

Renjun shook his head, “Don’t be. Tonight was amazing.” 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I really hope everyone reading enjoyed (though esp the mabuhay gays) !! Thank you so much for reading. Kudos and comments are always appreciated, but by no means required!


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